BRANFORD >> When asked why he’d decided to take on the challenge of running against a well-known incumbent in U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, Dominic Rapini chuckled.

“A lot of my friends tell me I’m crazy,” Rapini, an Apple sales executive said in a recent interview in his Branford home. “He’s got a lot of money. Why do you want to go into politics? It’s so nasty.”

Last November, “when I saw (Donald) Trump made it, I said if a business person can do this maybe I can get in here and make a difference. This is something my instincts tell me that I need to do.”

Rapini, 56, announced June 19 at the Stony Creek Brewery in Branford, that he would seek the Republican nomination for Murphy’s senate seat in 2018.

He made the announcement in front of more than 100 family members and friends at Branford’s most popular tourist attraction — only a mile or so from Rapini’s home.

In the interview in his home a few days after his announcement, Rapini listed what he said would be his top three campaign issues: a new, simplified tax plan, fewer regulations on business, and, what he termed, “real immigration reform policy.”

On taxes, Rapini said the current tax system is broken. “I’m a reasonably smart guy and I can’t do my own taxes. People shouldn’t need to hire people to do their own taxes.”

On fewer business regulations, Rapini said it would help stimulate growth, “and we all know that increased revenue solves all problems.”

On immigration, Rapini said he “wants to create a path to legalization, not citizenship. These people went through great peril to get here. They’re our friends, they’re my friend.

“I want them to become legal, to pay taxes. They can’t vote, but they can participate in whatever state level benefits that states want to grant,” he said.